Tribute
by Eleanore-Rigby
Summary: They would have paid- if only they had known. Can Maui save them?


Silence.

It was an eery quiet, the kind that follows chaos and what it brings. No bird sang. No breeze rustled the leaves in the grove or the bananas hanging from the trees, but then a groan of pain drifted into Moana's disbelieving ears.

That morning was a blur in her mind. Had it really happened?

Maybe it was all a dream and she was still asleep in the sand. Yeah, that's it. Maui was still snoring in between stomach rumbles, stretched out like a starfish right next to her. She was going to wake up happy and warm.

Then she'd wander into camp and join her parents for breakfast.

No.

She'd never had dreams like this. No nightmare could do such damage with it's scales and teeth and claws.

Motunui had never seen war. It had never seen plague or famine and it had certainly never seen anything like this. Now it seemed as if the last thousand years of tranquility had all been paid back at once, repaid in the shape of a beast with scales and teeth and claws.

It had come quietly from a cave at the back of the island the village had yet to explore. No moonlight touched the ground where the inky night swallowed up it's black scales. Great ropes of saliva hung from it's maw where a long, slithering tongue flicked out to taste the air. Hunting.

It scuttled over the sleeping camp without a sound.

This secret thing found what it sought that night in the camp at the head of the clearing, in the quiet beside the coconut grove- the chief who had so foolishly neglected to offer tribute to one so worthy and yet slept so soundly. For five days, it had waited quite patiently at the cool pond over which it ruled. It could wait no longer and decided to take for itself.

Moana stood before her entire world and saw it cracked right down the center for the first time. Her mother lay far too still. Each shallow breath pulled her closer to the bedside. One glance was all it took to see that the bandage on her arm was not quite hiding the blackened bite festering there.

This was her fault. She had brought her people to this awful place and now her mother was paying the ultimate price.

What had she done?

—

Maui had followed her into the village and was taking it all in. It was a lot to absorb and his stomach was in one dreadful knot. Just like that, the lily-white bubble where yesterday lived had burst. He knew that bite- it was unmistakable. But he had no idea that thing had been here, or for how long.

A hand on his arm startled him and he looked at Tui's expression of stone. It looked too much like his daughter's. He pulled the Demi-God away and did not mince words.

"Why did you let this happen?" he asked quietly.

Maui's jaw dropped, "Me?"

Tui's tone remained firm, "You are the one that sent us straight to it."

The accused was flabbergasted and more wounded than he'd care to say. He opened his mouth to speak, to defend himself, but nothing came out. There was no room for argument in the tone he had used.

The chief went on, bowing his head as he spoke, trying to keep his grief and anger in check, "You will not take both of them from me. Leave us. Take your hook and your canoe- ever see her again."

Maui turned to look at the 'her' in question. His dearest friend. She was bent over her mother with a cool, wet rag in hand. His heart wrenched when a whimper escaped her tight face as she pressed their foreheads together, wallowing in hopelessness. He had never seen her look so small and when she turned her eyes to him, he couldn't read them. Did she blame him too?

The awful cocktail of emotions filling heart was enough to kill a mortal man. Anger and horrified sadness were vying for first place in that horserace and now, thanks to Tui, guilt was coming in at a close second. He took a step back from the chief. From her.

Without another word, he stormed off and headed for the beach, ignoring the way no one in the entire camp would meet his eyes along the way. He could feel them laying all of the blame at his feet- feet which now shook the ground as he fled the scene in anger, shame and sadness, nostrils flaring and face a deep red.

He yanked his hook from the ground where he'd left it at the edge of the trees, and vanished without looking back.

Maui marched ahead, not really seeing what was in front of him. Before he knew it, he was jerking himself to a halt at the waters edge.

He knew Tui was right and it pissed him off- A demi-god could only bring more of this on her and she was only human.

He looked at the watery reflection of the sun.

A deep breath filled him up and he paused for a long moment, listening to each wave. The bright color began to fade from his face and neck. Another breath. Another moment.

He raised his hook high above his head, ready to fly. A blue, magical glow filled the intricate carvings.

It made a thud when it dropped to the ground again and he looked back toward the island with a fierceness that would have stilled TeKa's formidable rage.

Without wasting another second, he brandished the hook with an impressive flash and an unassuming beetle began to fly with purpose toward the trees, headed for a cave at the back of the island the village had yet to explore.

—

Trying for a suspenseful adventure. It may get gory and graphic and maybe even sexual- WHO KNOWS? I DONT!


End file.
